Vasari Art Codex

article news schedule Nov 21, 2025 visibility 4 link 3 artists, 1 gallery

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Newly released emails between Jeffrey Epstein and journalist Michael Wolff reveal Epstein speculating about the $450 million sale of Leonardo da Vinci's *Salvator Mundi* and its possible connection to Donald Trump. In a May 2019 exchange, Epstein suggested that the painting's sale by Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman might have been a covert bribe to secure Trump's support on Middle Eastern policy, specifically his veto of a congressional resolution against U.S. involvement in the Yemen war. Epstein also noted that his "art guy" thought the painting wasn't very good.

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article news schedule Sep 19, 2025 visibility 14 link 13 artists, 9 galleries

The Art World This Week, 19 September 2025

Ocula's weekly briefing reports strong sales at viennacontemporary with 15,000 visitors and six-figure results for Galerie Zimmermann Kratochwill. Sotheby's announced $248 million in pre-tax losses for 2024 but achieved $100 million from the Karpidas collection sale and consigned the Pritzker and Lauder collections for November. Haegue Yang was appointed chair of the executive board at Kunst-Werke Berlin. Yemen's National Museum in Sanaa was damaged by Israeli airstrikes. Gallerist Sebastian Gladstone opened a new Los Angeles space, while L.A. Louver closed its Venice Beach gallery after 50 years. Taymour Grahne Projects opened in Dubai. Samia Halaby won the MUNCH Award, Jennifer Packer and Marie Watt received Heinz Family Foundation awards, and the Henry Moore Foundation distributed £100,000 to UK sculptors.

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gavel restitution schedule May 21, 2025 visibility 4

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced it will return three ancient sculptures to Iraq, collectively valued at $500,000. The objects include a Sumerian gypsum alabaster vessel (ca. 2600–2500 BCE) and two Babylonian terracotta sculptures (ca. 2000–1600 BCE) depicting a male and female head. The repatriation follows new information from an investigation into Robin Symes, a dealer accused of trafficking looted artifacts. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office reported that the Symes investigation has led to the seizure of 135 antiquities worth over $58 million, with two of the items seized by the Antiquities Trafficking Unit earlier this year.

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article news schedule Sep 15, 2025 visibility 3 link 1 artist

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The National Museum of Yemen was damaged during Israeli airstrikes on Sanaa on Wednesday, according to the Houthi Ministry of Culture. The bombardment, part of escalating regional tensions linked to the Gaza war, killed 45 people and injured 165. Video footage shows the museum courtyard littered with rubble, and its windows and doors destroyed, though the building remains standing. The museum had only reopened in May 2023 after a decade-long closure due to Yemen's civil war.

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article policy schedule May 6, 2026 visibility 5 link 1 gallery

Today’s war, tomorrow’s loot: attempts at stemming the illicit trade in art

The article examines the ongoing challenge of preventing the illicit trade in cultural property looted from conflict zones. It discusses the Hague Convention of 1954 and its protocol, which require signatory countries to prevent theft and pillage during armed conflict and to seize and repatriate unlawful exports. However, the protocol only applies to situations of 'occupation,' leaving a gap for looting that occurs in the chaos of war beyond formal occupation. The article also notes UN Security Council Resolutions that restrict unlawfully removed cultural property from Iraq and Syria, but no similar consensus exists for countries like Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Lebanon, Yemen, Sudan, and Iran. EU Regulation 2019/880 is highlighted as a measure that prohibits introducing goods removed unlawfully from their place of origin into the EU, though its scope has expanded beyond its original anti-terrorist financing purpose.

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article local schedule Oct 23, 2025 visibility 2 link 3 artists

Two San Francisco Legends Will Open a Huge Cafe and Gallery at Pier 29

Mokhtar Alkhanshali, a pioneer of specialty Yemeni coffee in San Francisco, and author Dave Eggers are partnering to open a cafe and gallery at Pier 29's Art + Water, a new 70,000-square-foot arts nonprofit set to launch in late summer or fall 2026. Alkhanshali will operate a large cafe space featuring a new luxury coffee brand, while Art + Water will offer free studio space for artists and 10,000 square feet of gallery space, hosting rotating artists and workshops in collaboration with the Community Arts Stabilization Trust.

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article local schedule Apr 6, 2026 source 2 sources visibility 10 link 2 artists

Opening of "Yemeni Fingertips" art exhibition in Bilad Al-Rus

The second annual "Yemeni Fingertips" art and trade exhibition recently opened in the village of Wa'lan, located in the Bilad Al-Rus District of Sana'a. Organized by the Women's Development Office, the event showcases a diverse array of locally produced goods, including traditional embroideries, fabrics, jewelry, expressive drawings, and figurines, alongside artisanal food and cleaning products. High-ranking local officials, including Deputy Governor Abu Nojoom Al-Mahaqiri, attended the inauguration to review the contributions of participating families.

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museum exhibitions schedule Jul 19, 2025 visibility 2 link 2 galleries

Minister of Culture, Tourism, Aden Governor visit Art Exhibition at Sana’a Gallery

Yemen's Minister of Culture and Tourism, Dr. Ali Al-Yafei, and Aden Governor Tariq Salam visited an art exhibition at the Sana’a Fine Arts Gallery in Sana’a. The show features paintings and artworks by Yemeni artists that focus on the country's civilizational heritage, faith-based identity, and the Palestinian cause, particularly the suffering in Gaza. Officials toured the gallery and praised the works for expressing national and regional concerns.

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